The field of the invention is generally that of microscopes and microscope stands and associated equipment and, more particularly, the type of microscope and microscope stand disclosed, described and claimed in great detail in the prior patent application of the inventor of the present invention entitled AN IMPROVED MICROSCOPE STAND FOR MICROSCOPE OPTICS AND A MUTUALLY PERPENDICULARLY ADJUSTABLE WORK STAGE IN AN INTERMEDIATE FOCUSING PLANE, Ser. No. 013,196 filed 02/22/79, and subsequently issued on Nov. 10, 1981 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,440, to which reference is made at this point in the present specification and throughout the remainder of this present specification and also when considering the drawings of the present application. In such microscopes and microscope stands, as well as in many other types of microscopes, a major problem has been the proper optical alignment of the microscope optics (comprising one or more portions of a microscope optical system.) Usually, this has required very precise manufacturing procedures for all portions of the microscope stand and all portions thereof which carry various parts of the microscope optical system and has further required very precise and accurate assembly procedures for same. This has had the effect of greatly increasing the cost of manufacture of such a microscope stand, and microscope, when completed in fully-assembled and optically aligned relationship.
It is clear that it would be highly desirable to provide either a microscope stand, or some adjustable positioning head or coupling portion connected to, and effectively comprising a part of the microscope stand, which would be capable of initial engagement with, or retrofitting engagement with respect to, one or more standard sets of microscope optics (usually a number of different makes or varieties of microscope optics), and/or intermediate work stages, which would only need to initially be capable of mounting the so-called workpiece (usually an eyepiece and objective lens portion of the microscope optics, although not specifically so limited) in a close-to-optical-alignment position (which is relatively inexpensive to do from both the manufacturing and the assembly points of view) and then completing the precise optical alignment by adjustment of the above-mentioned adjustable positioning head or coupling portion, and a workpiece holder carried thereby, with respect to an attachment portion thereof rigidly attached to an upper supporting arm of a microscope stand, with said adjusting movement being in selected mutually perpendicular x and y directions when of a translatory type or being in two selected mutually perpendicular vertical planes when being of a rotary type whereby to produce exact coincidence and alignment of the optical axes (or optical axis upper and lower portions) of the movable portions of the microscope optical system--and doing so in a manner which can be accomplished in a few minutes by relatively unskilled help and at very low expense. It is precisely such a highly desirable and advantageous type of adjustable positioning head for a supporting structure (such as a microscope stand) which is provided by and in the present invention and which has advantages of the type referred to above, virtually completely overcoming the problems, disadvantages, and limitations of the above-mentioned type inherent in most prior art microscopes, and microscope stand, constructions, and wherein all of said advantages flow from, and occur by reason of, the specific features of the invention pointed out hereinafter.